awkward
by bluethunder-of-furinkanhigh
Summary: In which Lucy and Laxus are properly introduced to each other. Sort of. "Oi, Heartfilia, are you done molesting my clothes yet?" Set on Tenroujima Island.


**Shh guys I know they will never be canon but whatever I love this pairing. They're my cracktp. So let's pretend they stayed overnight on Tenrou Island before Zeref attacked them, yes? **

**Disclaimer: If I owned Fairy Tail, Natsu, Laxus, Lyon, Gray, Sting, and Jellal all would have battled over Lucy by now. (Yes, I have that many Lucy pairings. Only NaLu and GrayLu are my otps though!)**

* * *

Lucy couldn't sleep.

She was exhausted, both mentally and physically, but for some reason, sleep refused to come to her.

She decided to go to the medicinal spring her and Cana had soaked in earlier, to try and relax. The sun had set hours ago and all her guildmates had passed out in various places around the camp, so she tiptoed as quietly as she could towards the edge of the clearing before realizing she couldn't exactly remember the where the spring was.

The blonde glanced around uneasily, watching Gray strip off a sock in his sleep, listening to Natsu snore loudly, and Erza mutter something to herself, when she decided that she would be fine searching on her own. She didn't want to wake anyone up. They had all fought fiercely, they deserved some sleep.

_So do I! _She whined to herself, _But that won't happen unless I go soak and relax._

With her new resolve, Lucy set out into the woods, with only the moonlight filtering through the tall trees as guidance.

It was pretty frightening, walking through a forest late at night. She felt like all her senses were heightened, her mind on edge.

She had been walking for a little over five minutes when the celestial mage finally accepted that, yes, she was hopelessly lost already. And she forgot her keys! What if she got attacked? How could she have been so stupid? As she was bemoaning her fate, her ears picked up on the faint sound of running water.

The spring! It had to be the spring!

Lucy grinned and shot off toward the sound, already in a better mood. _Uhh, it's going to feel sooooo good! _She gushed in her mind.

As she got closer to her destination, she could hear what sounded like someone splashing around in the water. She slowed her pace down to a walk, doubt weighing her down.

_Don't be silly, Lucy! It's probably just an animal bathing - everyone on the island is sleeping. _She thought in an attempt to calm herself down. She walked further into the foliage, trying not to think about the possibility of it being an enemy.

Lucy glanced up and saw articles of clothing strewn over a branch of a tree, and she stiffened, cursing her bad luck. But that didn't make sense, everyone on the island was sleeping, and why would an enemy take a quick dip before attacking?

She inched towards the offending items slowly, and was distressed when she couldn't recognize them. She fingered the cloth of the shirt, trying desperately to match it up to anyone she knew. The clothes were huge, much larger than her. If she were to wear them they would engulf her entirely. In a last attempt, she sniffed them.

She immediately wished she hadn't.

The scent overwhelmed her senses. They smelled of pine needles, burning wood, and something almost spicy...it was a startling combination that worked really well together. On impulse Lucy snatched up the shirt and brought it closer to her nose, breathing in the musky scent.

The blonde was so immersed in her actions that she didn't notice when the splashing from the spring ceased, and the owner of the clothes Lucy was trying to inhale like a creep started walking towards her.

_Oh my kami, I wish I could just wrap myself in these clothes and cuddle in them forever. They would help me sleep, for sure... _She thought longingly, rubbing the soft material against her cheek.

"Oi, Heartfilia, are you done molesting my clothes yet?" A sudden calm, slightly amused, _definitely _male voice inquired, making the celestial mage shriek and stumble away from said items in fright. She winced as she fell gracelessly on her ass.

"Ow," she muttered to herself, slowly standing up and turning to face her potential enemy.

There, clad in nothing but a thin towel riding dangerously low on his broad hips, was Laxus Dreyar. Lucy gasped and thought frantically for some type of plausible excuse until she noticed exactly what the artificial dragon slayer was wearing. Or, more accurately, what he _wasn't _wearing.

He stood with his arms crossed, the corded muscles in his arms even more pronounced. His towel stopped right above his knees, just loose enough to keep a person guessing, but still way too short and tight for comfort. The older mage's skin was glistening from his bath, and Lucy's mouth dried at the sight of drops of water sliding down his abs. He was massive with his large build alone, and it didn't help that he was so tall. She only barely reached his shoulders.

If he noticed the young blonde's brown eyes raking over his body, he made no indication of it. He just passively stood there, looking stern but not quite dangerous, and waited for Lucy to collect herself.

The spirit mage gulped and once again bemoaned her existence. Laxus soaking wet in nothing but a towel was definitely worse than an enemy.

"I, uh - er, you see - " she began, sounding nothing like the sophisticated, graceful young lady she was raised to be. Lucy could practically hear her father 'tsk' from hundreds of miles away. How could she possibly explain what she had been caught doing without sounding like a creepy psychopath?

And still, Laxus just stared at her with only slight amusement curling his lips. Which part did he find funny, Lucy wondered. Her stuttering or her trying to absorb his clothes into her very being?

"I - I'm sorry," she muttered at last, casting her eyes downward. Staring at him was only further muddling her mind. A few moments passed with complete silence between them, with Lucy trying to urge the ground to open up and swallow her whole, and Laxus...just standing there.

Erza was right. He _was _awkward.

An easily flustered, hormonal girl and a ridiculously attractive, awkward man together proved to be horrible conversationalists.

Finally, the lightning mage released a deep, throaty chuckle and Lucy whipped her head up at the sound. He was laughing at her expense, no doubt, but she couldn't help but smile. This was so _weird. _For the majority of her time at Fairy Tail, Laxus had been expelled, and before that he was a complete and utter dickhead. However, she had considered him her nakama, and watching him fight Hades had only reinforced that. He cared about Fairy Tail and all its inhabitants.

Still, they had never had a proper conversation before...in fact, they had never even been alone together before. The thought made Lucy blush.

The older mage stopped laughing and began to walk towards her slowly, as if he were afraid she would collapse at any sudden movement. He stopped when he was right in front of her, sent her a slight smile, and...patted her head, making sure to muss her hair.

Lucy immediately reached up to slap his hand away and began smoothing out her hair, "Laxus!" she whined petulantly, pouting up at him.

He chuckled again and reached out, twirling a blonde lock around his index finger, "Cute," he commented in an offhand manner, tucking the hair behind her ear.

Lucy froze, her face flushing instantly, as the man moved around her to gather his clothes. Maybe he wasn't as awkward as everyone thought. He _had _to know that would be considered flirting, right? Was Laxus flirting with her?

She almost fainted at the thought.

The spirit mage hadn't really thought that much about boys since joining Fairy Tail. She found herself admiring Gray and Natsu sometimes, but there seemed to always be something going on to distract her from pursuing a relationship with anyone. And now she found she wouldn't mind being with someone...

The same someone who was currently changing right in front of her.

"L - Laxus!" she squeaked out, covering her eyes, mortified at herself for wanting nothing more than to continue watching the free show, "Can't you do that behind a tree or something?!"

Lucy honestly didn't know why she was freaking out. Gray stripped _all the time, _and although he usually left his boxers on, there have been many occasions where she saw the whole package. So, the blonde was no stranger to the male physique.

Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that she had become insanely attracted to Laxus in the small amount of time they spent together. She was so pathetic. And as she guiltily peeked through the fingers covering her eyes to watch him pull his shirt over his head, those delicious muscles rippling, she realized she was also _so _screwed.

This was going to haunt her.

"I'm done anyway," the man said, smirking at her. She huffed and glared at him, but felt it lacked any of the conviction she wanted due to her red face.

"What were you doing out here, anyways?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest again.

"I was going to go bathe in the medicinal spring to try and relax. I couldn't sleep," she explained.

He nodded and confessed to also not being able to sleep. A few more awkward, silent moments passed before Laxus spoke again.

"Well, enjoy your soak; and try not to get lost coming back to camp," he said, walking swiftly past her, in the direction of camp.

"Aye, sir," she muttered to herself as she watched him leave.

What the hell had just happened? Lucy had a horrible feeling she was smitten with the lightning mage, and could only curse her bad luck as she sank further into the calming water of the spring.

_How am I ever going to get any sleep with him on my mind?! _

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**I kind of liked where I was going with this, but I couldn't really figure out how to end it, and it's probably obvious.**

**Tell me your thoughts? Did I make any mistakes? (Probably tons!)**


End file.
